You Will Shoot Your Eye Out

Back in 1930, California was producing nearly one quarter of the entire world’s oil output. These oil wells in Venice, California, were still operational on the beach in 1952.

The image shows a dense forest of wooden oil derricks crowding the shoreline and beach area during the Southern California oil boom in the early 20th century.

Large-scale petroleum discoveries in the 1920s and 1930s turned parts of the Los Angeles coastline, including Venice and Playa del Rey, into packed industrial drilling zones right up against the ocean. Beachgoers, homes, and seaside areas sat shoulder-to-shoulder with active rigs and storage tanks before regulations and tourism eventually shifted the coastline’s purpose.

Venice, California experienced a massive, fast-moving oil boom after the Ohio Oil Company struck oil on December 18, 1929, near the Grand Canal and Washington Street. Within two years, more than 400 towering metal derricks crowded the beachfront and residential lots, transforming the resort town into a noisy, sludge-filled industrial zone before production quickly declined.

The first wildcat well yielded 3,000 barrels per day from a depth of nearly 6,200 feet, sparking intense “oil fever” during the Great Depression. By July 1931, over 340 to 450 active wells crowded the Venice peninsula south of Washington Street, making it one of the top-producing fields in California.

Drilling waste, thick sludge, and foul odors polluted the historic canals, forced local school closures, and ruined the beach. Production dropped drastically by 1932, though low-level pumping continued for decades.

By the 1970s and 1990s, all remaining wells were completely capped and removed, leaving behind the modern residential and recreational neighborhood. Plus a very nasty Gang too!